then we will begin a 10 day series focusing on the battleground states. "washington cannot ddot host: the candidates are focusing on 9 swing states. president obama in iowa today. mr. romney was in nevada and colorado yesterday and will be and i what today. there are nine states considered battlegrounds. we kick off our coverage of them

all. we will begin a florida later on on "washington journal." talking to people on both sides of the aisle. we will begin with those late the ciders. how did you make up your mind? or if you think you are going to make up your mind and the last 13 days, we want to assure you as well. if you are supporting governor 1.mney called calle202-585-388 if you are supporting obama call 202-585-3880 0. if you are supporting another candidate call 202-585-3882. go to twitter.com campaign

2012. how did you make up your mind and when? since the first presidential debate how and when did you make up your mind? late decider is only. or if you think you were going to make up your mind during the next 13 days. here is the wall street journal. candidates a bottle to lock up key states. mitt romney will spend much of the final two weeks of the campaign presenting himself as a bipartisan bridge builder. that is the wall street journal. and in the washington post --

trying to rebut criticism. republican nominee mitt romney who had been a longtime underdog signal that he would finish the campaign as a calm, casual front runner. that is from the "washington post." also in the "new york times." this is in the election 2012 section. mr. obama's schedule has made clear that his primary mission now is to energize his own supporters and get them to vote, probably right away. in florida where he.

appeared in the morning, and later in ohio, the constant refrain at his rallies was vote! vote! ohio and florida are on our list of the battleground states. we are starting with florida and on thursday people go to nevada, and it continues throughout the next nine days leading up to election day. we will begin with louis in

tennessee, supporting president obama. when did decide and why? caller: hello. can you hear me? host: weekend. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am for obama. romney as far as i am concerned he is not told the truth. i am a retired coal miner. and he has absolutely told people he supported a call, and our labor union before this started -- neither one of them said an el. date support call. and the key is teasing about that. host: governor romney said he would not support call? caller: that is right. host: and this is what you are

union representative told you? caller: yes. we have some other issues going on and we asked about that. . we support? we have no list yet. host: he said neither one of them are supporting coal. host: but now you decided to support president obama? caller: well romney is cutting and union schoolteachers down. he said he would give women support but cutting school teachers down is not giving support. and i will tell you something else, he has not said -- we as far as those mexicans crossing the border and educating them and putting them to work. that is the way i look at that. host: let me get your reaction

to this piece. romney digging for the kick coal vote. estate recent rally, paul ryan encouraged voters to cast a ballot early for mitt romney in order to keep paying jobs in the coal industry say. the romney campaign has used the argument for call as a way to court a relatively small percentage of voters, maybe you are reagan democrats to occupy key coal-producing counties and several battleground states. electrolyte, four are considered a possible tossups this cycle, colorado, ohio, pennsylvania and virginia. are you with me still? caller: i am still here. host: this story is about how governor romney is telling those that support call that they need to support him. caller: what he tells the public and what he says behind closed

doors are two different things. host: when did you hear from your union representative? caller: he is one of the representatives up their. about two weeks ago. host: ok. we will go on to wednesday in florida, now supporting governor romney. tell us when you decide to make up your mind and why. caller: i have been going back and forth just because obama said he would bring the truth out. but about one hour ago i was getting ready for word and i heard mr. romney pose the question -- would you trust president obama with your investments? i do not think so. and that is when i said, that is very important. if you cannot trust someone with your money, and he is president,

that is pretty sad. he is not good at handling all of the money that he put into all of these different projects, there is not really anbeen any return on investments. host: you just made your mind up this morning? caller: i really did. host: what other issues make you feel torn between the two? caller: the one issue was the military, bringing the troops home. host: you trusted president obama on that more than the governor romney? caller: yes. president obama said he will get people out of the afghanistan area. i do not like it. i think it is dangerous. it is not really being productive. i think it is a waste of time. what is the point? i do not want those guys up in

the mountains. host: a follow up on that callers' comments about the economy. this is the "the wall street journal" -- weak earnings sparked sell-off. that is a story in many of the papers this morning. also, this story in the "washington post." he stopped the fall that hasn't turned the tide. the president's policy --

sluggish job growth remains a problem. inside the story written by michael -- job growth perhaps the biggest vulnerability for the president. pamela in kentucky, you did to forcided to vote johnson, why is that? hostcaller: i did wish the restf the nation could have listened to them. i do not know who watched your shows. but legalizing marijuana. in his dislike the prohibition.

-- it is just like the prohibition. all of the illegal sales, we of more people in the jail because of marijuana and drug charges than we do for all other crimes combined. and i do agree with gary johnson. he is from the libertarian party. he does has some great things to say. instead of bailing out wall street, it would be bailing out the college students. who are all in the debt and cannot get jobs. and they all have a tremendous pell grant to pay back. they are the ones you need bailing out because they are our future. and we are our third bailout of wall street. host: we will show you a little

bit about what gary johnson and others had to say during the third party debate. but i am just wondering, why you have been holding out from supporting one of the two party candidates? caller: i was just waiting for one of them to say something to really inspired me. and to get me excited and a revved up, to get me to march out into the street and said this is the guy i want to run my country. host: gary johnson did that for you? caller: yes. mitt romney was who i was leaning towards. once i listened to those people, i agreed. the two parties have morphed to gather. and one or the ever, it is not going to make that much difference. host: ok. i want to show others in case they missed it, and little but from that a third-party presidential debate. here is virgil goode good and gary johnson.

[video clip] >> jobs in america for american citizens first. i am the only candidate that has advocated a near complete moratorium on a brand cards, a foreign worker and missions into this country until unemployment is under 5%. it makes no sense to bring in so many farm workers when we need jobs in america for united states citizens first. >> as double of the mexico i ran a completely out of the political system, i got elected republican governor and state that was 2-1 democrat and made a name for myself of vetoing legislation. i'd be done more legislation than the other 49 governors in the country combined. i b to add 750 bills, and thousands of line item vetoes, it made a difference when it can to billions of dollars worth of spending, it made a difference when it came to laws that would have told you are by what i

could or couldn't do in the bedroom. host: here johnson reports that he will appear on the ballot in 48 states including some of battlegrounds. and in colorado, new hampshire and an ohio -- johnson could be a thorn in romney side if the election is close. and in virginia, virgil goode could be a problem for gov. romney in that state as well. here is more from a third-party presidential debate. with the other candidates. [video clip] >> there are 90 million voters who are not coming out to vote in this election. that is one out of every two of voters, twice as many as the

number who will come out for president obama, and twice as many as the number who will come out for mitt romney. those are voters who are saying and go to politics as usual and setting no to the democratic and republican parties. imagine if we got off work -- that they actually have a variety of choices and voices in this election. >> obama ann romney have refused to discuss the corrupting influence of money flowing from wall street banks, from the insurance companies the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry, military contractors, because they are the recipients of that corrupting money. and neither of these dominant party candidates will have a called for federal protection. neither of them have called for an end of a poverty, an end to the insane world -- war on drugs or for the implementation of initiatives that would hire

millions of workers. host: does your third-party candidates. we are talking with late deciphers. how did you make up your mind and when? what is the media spend so much time on the undecided voter? what we spend any time of people who wait until the last minute? often casting on informed votes based on emotion. that is from eric in florida. and this goes from 1992 until 2004 elections, in 199225% of those voting according to exit polls made up their final decision during the last week of the campaign. 30.7% in 1996. that is gone down in 2000. it was 18.4% that. and in 2004, 11.3%. here is how it breaks down by party. in 1992, 37 percent of the blade

the seiters voted democrat. 29% for republican. 34% for the other candidate. 51% voted democrat, 33% for a republican, and a 33% for another candidate. you can see the trend continues, most of the lady seiders doing for the democratic candidate, and about 41% in 2000 for voting republican. you can see the other, those that voted for the other candidates on the ballot as well. they are all late the ciders. we are talking to them only. robert in iowa. you decided to vote for president obama, when and how? caller: good morning. i did a t square and balance sheet. i went down the line on what i thought of the two candidates and i began to realize during the last debate, it seemed like

i listened to romney all along. and it was very different than the last time. this time when the did the debate he was trying to be like obama because he knows obama has a better program. the other thing, the 47% comment, that is really bad. he is saying people are entitled. they are naturally entitled. the 1% as the record profits over and over again. and then make this record profit. and workers are stagnant. that is why the economy is in such bad shape. we have to love someone in there that is interested in -- we have got to have someone in there that is interested in that people are entitled when people are entitled. that is what romney should be saying. when it comes to health care, she is trying to change that again. but we need that help care. 40 million americans right now

do not have health insurance. they need that health insurance come a lot of them are young, and they do not realize that they need it. host: ok. family in richmond, virginia. you decided to vote for governor romney. why? caller: i do not know if you'd call me late decider. host: when did you decide? caller: i started to lean mitt romney when this whole issue in benghazi -- when the assassination and murder of four americans took place. and to make, i was around when watergate -- during watergate. my feeling is, if it walks like a cover-up, talks like a cover- up, it is a cover-up. and i am amazed that you have had nothing so far on your

program about the reuters report late last night. on all of these e-mails that have been sent back and forth. they knew in the administration, and it have to have gone up to the white house at some point very early on, that this was not a rowdy crowd that got out of hand over a video that barely anybody saw. it was terrorism. and ever since, it has been, i mean, everybody in the administration is saying, it was the video. two weeks later, they are still

not saying an act of terrorism. it is obvious that it was an act of terrorism. host: which is more of an important issue? but it was an act of terrorism or that there's a possible cover-up. caller: both. because of an act of terrorism, yes, it is frightening. host: you decided to write for governor romney -- caller: the very fact that the president and the administration could lie to the american people, knowing what happened -- i just feel outraged. and slowly became more outraged. host: 20 think watergate has stuck with you all of these years and the cover-up?

-- why do you think watergate has stuck with you all of these years? caller: i grew up with it. i did not care one way or another about nixon. what i cared about was lying. host: robert in laurel, md.. decided to vote for gary johnson. when did you make the decision? caller: last night when i watched the third party debate, the prohibition on drugs. me being an african american -- he doesn't think in that matter. alf are in prison because of the drugs. 60,000 black men have been murdered since 9/11, probably

killed because of drugs and stuff like that. if we can legalize marijuana, more of these women without husbands would have won. host: gary johnson or joe stein, everyone should take a look of the third-party debates. facebooking.com/cspan. and the reuters story. officials at the white house and the state department were advised two hours after attackers attacked benghazi that an islamic group had claimed credit for the attack. official e-mails show. this is a story posted yesterday from reuters. if you are interested. the twoouse told hours after the attack according to e-mails. we are talking to light the

ciders. how and when did you make up your mind? -- we are talking to 08 deciders. how and when did you make up your mind? we will try to find this story for you. here we go. here is the "usa today." voters face proposal to change state laws to regulate the sale of marijuana. cavan in jacksonville, florida. you decided to support president obama, why is that? caller: it was after the last

debate. watching governor romney's response to the national security, dealing with navy ships or air force aircraft, or army troops. i do not think he understands. being a military member, i worked and national security, it is a different line of work when you look at capability, you do not look at the numbers. the numbers are not as important as the capability. host: you decided to reject just decided after this last debate. what were you holding out for? caller: well, i really like to see -- governor romney, if he had a different perspective on national security, it yet a different plan other than the bob bush -- luke skywalker.

he did not. you just had talking points and the wave of the hand. that was not good enough for me. i am a military officer. i am still active. host: are you in the navy? caller: no. host: i sense some reluctance to tell us what you do? caller: yes. host: this is the baltimore sun reporting that an estimated 59.2 million people tuned in to watch the final debates between barack obama and gop challenger mitt romney on monday night, despite strong competition from monday night football and game 7 of major league baseball's national league championship series.

about 65.6 million viewers watched the second debate on october 16. we will go to our race in georgia, decided to support governor romney. -- we will go to maurice in georgia. host: you are on. caller: the issue was for me, originally i was undecided. it was based upon a moral issue. i decided to go with mitt romney. because of the fact -- i feel like he has a moral standard. even though from what i understand he claims to be a mormon. i am a very devout christian. and locked of his views are consistent with what i believe and the holy bible. primarily, a lot of people are focused on war, money, school education. but i feel the number one

determining factor of why this nation is continuing to fall is because of f.a. moral debate. and i learned in church, i have prayed daily for this country, and as the apostle paul had stated, the likely regard of the homosexual lesbian abomination is resulting from immorality and abandonment of god. any nation that justifies a homosexuality as a civil right order acceptable lifestyle is in the final stages of moral corruption. and i believe if any nation that shuns the bible or moves away from the preset that was the building blocks of this nation, is ultimately going to corrupt. host: what you trust governor

romney more than president obama? caller: for example, same-sex marriage. that was huge for me. originally i voted for obama the first term. that issue right there to try to change holy matrimony as the sanctity between a man and a woman, it directly violates and train crosses the law of god. and to me it is extremely dangerous. ultimately, we are playing got ourselves. host: same-sex marriage for you. others have brought up national security. here is the "washington post." by greg miller. united states set to keep kill lists for years.

-- including sealed indictments and a clandestine operations. this is the database is designed to go beyond existing kill louis, mapping plans for the disposition of suspects beyond the reach of the drums. that is the front page story in the "washington post." they are the only ones to have it this morning. and in the >> washington times ," the only millions for ad buys in the final days before the election. they are sitting on at least 122 million in cash that can be spent on politics. there's of millions to democratic super pacs purchasing ad buys daily. with union's traditional specialty being get out the vote rather than persuasion, it is now in the final weeks of the campaign, that much of the funds stand to be spent. led by the united autoworkers

at $6.3 million, they can give that money an unlimited amount rather than the $2,500 at a time. below that is a story about croll rose and his -- carl rove that will target democratic lawmakers in eight states. its affiliates have been investing heavily in recent weeks. they are spending up to 70 million supporting republican senate candidates. speaking of negative advertisements an advertisement buying, some republicans are thinking about legislation that would counteract the supreme court ruling citizens united versus federal election, some are considering tighter worlds. this is in the new york times. setting a republican in california who has been a victim

of some of these super pac adds. and he and others considering legislation to tighten the rules. johnny in san diego, you are supporting gary johnson. why is that? caller: i was a late decider. i was between governor johnson and governor romney. but i actually think he won the third party debate. i was very happy were focusing on that. the whole media treats the presidential race of a football game to give his two teams. but the reality is, i am not y cynicalism.icalis and in california, we are not a swing state. i think the ross perot 15 percent rule is really unfair. but how can you poll that 15% if

you are not in the debate anyway. that is why i am not going to waste my vote on either of the two major candidates. host: camille in florida. it decided for president obama. when did you make that decision? caller: i am pretty much of their. unfortunately, i say unfortunately only because of the super pac issues. i just hear people calling in, i have been listening to c-span for a while now. i watched the debates. the libertarian gary johnson, and all of the rest. i am not an advocate for -- i am just not an advocate for legalizing any type of the drug.

because it is a moral issue. i am not for same sex, i am not for drugs, i am not for abortion. these are moral issues. the gentleman who called and said he is a devout christian, i see myself the same way. but i think it is a moral issue to bring up between you and the lord yourself. the government is run by business. it is a business. the government needs to protect and serve. and unfortunately, greed got in the way and the pendulum is swinging. and we are probably and for another collapse, and mitt romney will probably fix it somehow. but it has gotten out of control. and i think the super pacs, i received a cd in the mail promoting that obama is -- i was wondering where people got this, he is a communist. and it is daunting to think that

people can scare you. and it forces you to do the homework. you have got to do the homework. i feel sorry for anyone going into the polls and pressing a button, because it is unfair. host: when did you get that dvd. caller: saturday. i was going to throw it out. but i sent it back. host: what was it called? caller: something about my father -- they changed the name. dreams not for my father or something like that. host: you did not open it up. you send it back. the that help you decide to vote for president obama? caller: i feel he was given a big blow. when he did the first debate, i saw a man was basically deciding, do i really want to go into office and do a job for

people who may be do not want me there? mitt romney, he is a flip- flopping. i have voted republican in the past. i am independent, a registered independent for the last eight years. growing up in a democratic family. it depends on the origins were brought up in. wants to make up your mind to be an individual and you see your freedom in this world, i am free. i feel like i am a free person. i got my own finances with my husband. i told my children to do the same thing. i think people would just get themselves free, some people need the help, that is where the government does, and. host: let me jump in. you and others may be interested. the new york times is a piece about the dvd you and others have received. anti obama messages flood key states. this is written by jeremy peters.

in one commercial, a wealthy businessman and a hundred and immigrant talked about how socialism hit his country. and a new anti-obama cbd it is dropping into mailboxes climate love child of an illicit relationship between his mother and a communist party loyalist. the back story of the dvd offers the latest example of how secretive forces outside the presidential campaigns can sweep into the battleground states before the election. one of the battleground states, one of the nine that the candidates are focusing on. here is this ad is running in florida and other states.

[video clip] >> i grew up in a socialist country. i have seen what that does to people. there's no hope, no freedom, no achievement. the nation became poorer and poorer. and that is what i see happening here. as a young boy i was fantasizing about one a day going to america, making the success of myself the american dream. americans have come through the efforts of people striving for success. and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy. yes, in socialism there are people who are poor, but the poor will also be poorer. i think this is a very -- it seems like people do not learn from the past. that is why i am voting republican and putting this ad on television. i am thomas peterly and i am

responsible for this advertisement. host: this is running in florida to give you an idea of the campaign in that state. we will be talking about it at 8:30. part of our battleground 2012 series a kick off today focusing on the 9 swing states, the candidates are hopping from one to the other, throughout the next 13 days leading up to the election. this morning, we have about five minutes left to talk too late the ciders. how did you make up your mind and when? ronald on twitter, late do not watch c-span regularly. according to one study, the late deciders to make a late decision because they are looking for more information and not feel like they are getting it from their candidates. jay in michigan decided to support mitt romney.

why did you decide this? caller: i am 50 years old, i am an educated man. in other words, i have not had to look for a job in a long time. i have been out of work for one year. president obama saying, i have created jobs, i have created jobs. and he has. however, i go out and look for a job. if you want to work for $10 committee last job offer i got, $8 and 50 cents. host: and what were you making before? caller: $29.85. had they expect someone to support a family?

even for a single man to make $8.50 an hour? in the last debate, it seemed to me that president obama, he was more interested in attacking the governor then he was an answering the questions. the simple fact -- host: when did you make this decision to vote for governor romney? when you went to the job interview? caller: i have been pretty discouraged about that for some time. last week watching the final debate, instead of going there and try to apologize for us and america and -- he had plenty of

opportunity. but he said less stick to the agenda. this is what we need to do. and we cannot take in other -- another four years of this. host: this is the "washington times" this morning. in a ex-president will have the power or influence over united states abortion policy in several areas. through the federal bureaucracy or through support or hindrance of state action. some of these measures are appointed to the state court. those are some of the issues on the table if abortion is your issue. nancy in new york. you are supporting gary johnson.

go ahead. caller: i prepare tax returns. i have seen tremendous inequality being paid by the high income people. i have a lot of clients who are unemployed. i also volunteer for suicide prevention. we of a soldier dying every 36 hours, a vet dying every 36 minutes. both mitt romney and obama are talking about more spending in the military, we are becoming a police state. we have lots of unintended killings. i am a registered republican. i voted democrat last election. i am a late decider because it took so long to get information on the third-party candidates. gary johnson is my

candidate. we will openness to a three-way election next time. roe versus wade has been the law for 20 years. it has not been overturned. host: she watched the third- party candidate. we showed you a little bit. if you want to watch more on it or the entire thing go to our website c-span.org, to confine it to their. front page of the washington times. mitt romney has crossed a major threshold, moving above 50% in his favorability ratings. and for the first time he leaves president obama on about measure of favorability. and back to the wall street journal on money. the gop nominee and super pacs backing him will spend about 55 million this week, up from 40

million two weeks ago. mr. obama and democrats will spend roughly $33 million, up from $24.7 million two weeks ago. most of the pro-romney spending comes from outside groups. which do not get the lower, favorable rates for air time that stations, by law must offer to candidates. so that is how much money is going to be spent. this week compared to the last two weeks on ads in this campaign 2012. a quick update on that senate race in virginia, the "baltimore sun," senate slugfest comes down to the wire between the two former governors, tim kaine and john allen. voters have barely budged after a relentless 18 months of battling. they are singing the race is too

close to call. and the endless loop of attack ads have done little to shift opinion. that might be a race that we do not know about on election night and they have to find out about the next morning or in the coming days of the campaign 2012. we are going to continue talking about politics here. coming up next, lauren williams from "the root." and as advertised, we begin our battleground 2012 series with brian crowley of the crowley political report and florida. he will kick off our battleground series looking at florida. we will be right back. ♪ >> what he does said is not

true. >> senator, you need to do a better job of explaining your own record. you are really messing up my record. apparently, you are looking at somebody else. it is a shame. senator, the people of the state of a florida are tired of you saying one thing to them. and then going back to washington, d.c. and voting with barack obama 98% of the time. they are tired of that. they want to to look at them in the eye and tell you what they are -- what you are going to do for them. >> senator. >> is that the only line that you memorized? [laughter] >> are you going to own up to it? >> let me tell you that violence against women -- for you to not have produced it in the house, where we were trying to produce it in the senate is just coming

here we are in 2012. and it is true. you voted for a re definition of race as forcible rape. it seems to me the rape is rape. >> with less than two weeks until election day, followed the key races on c-span, c-span radio and a not c- span.org/campaign2012. this weekend book tv stockton austin tx for live coverage of the 17th annual texas book festival. saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern. david westin on his 13 years in the news business. and others on texas natives. and infiltrating drug cartels. and robert draper come inside the house of representatives.

the texas book festival, live this weekend on book tv on c- span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: bareback with lauren williams, editor of the root. we are talking about the african american vote in the campaign 2012. if you can come compare the enthusiasm level in 2008 for voting for barack obama among african americans worse is today. guest: you know, 2008 was obviously this huge movement. he was born to be the first black president. black voters were feeling that feeling. and that can never be recreated. i think there have been some articles where black voters are like, that has been made and now we are just voting for president. i think that just sums up the difference between then and now.

there have been some disappointments. the economy is what it is. the unemployment rate is double that of the national rate. and yet, i think that the black support for the president is still extremely, extremely high. and i think the enthusiasm is higher than one would think it would be, considering that unemployment rate. host: this is the united states unemployment rate for september 2012, african americans, 13.4%, over all its 7.8%. as you said, african american likely voters, 3% are for governor romney. why? guest: i think a lot of black voters do not necessarily blame

barack obama for the economy. they blame george bush. and i think that they blame the republican congress for blocking a barack obama's efforts to change the economy. and a lot of voters, the root annually does the state of the union paul, where we ask our readers to rate obama. and our readers and generate give them d's and c's on the economy and gave the congress f's. they are very optimistic about where the economy is going and think he is improving the economy. they give him credit for improvements that have been made. i think that is where a lot of that continued support comes from. they do not think it is his fault. host: how important is the african-american vote to president obama's possible reelection? and governor romney losing this

election? guest: i think it is extremely important. in 2008, obama won with 96% of the black vote and 43% of the white vote. i think it is obvious that without that huge black support, obama might not be in the white house, especially in the swing states that have these large black populations like in north carolina and virginia. so, i think that it is important, very important for obama in states like virginia and n.c. or florida that black voters turn out at the rates that they turned out in 2008. and i think it would be beneficial for mitt romney if they did not for obvious reasons. host: on the route you have this story, mitt romney -- what did your reporter have to say? guest: he interviewed with black

enterprise i believe. we wrote a little bit about it. he does not have specifics on black unemployment. but neither does barack obama. they do not think about black unemployment specifically. it is generally more just, i am going to create jobs better than the barack obama is going to. i am going to improve this economy. they both sort of have this -- philosophy. neither one of them are going to directly address black unemployment or black employment. host: what about the stimulus packages that president obama put through congress? for those viewed by african americans and what has governor romney said about them? is that something that african- americans look to point to when they look to say what the president has done with the economy? guest: is something that the

obama administration has pointed to specifically when it has been criticized for not doing specific things for african- americans. he says there are parts of the stimulus like pell grant, specific aspects of the stimulus that the obama administration has said are positively affected could struggling african americans. mitt romney disagrees with stimulus. so, when challenged, the obama administration will often point to these things. there will never say we prevented this legislation so that we could help black people. that is not something you would ever say. why would a day. -- why would they? but the things that they have done have disproportionately help black people and i think black people appreciate that. host: i want to show this headline from the pew research

center back in 2009. bisecting the 2009 electorate, black women had the highest voter turnout rate in november's election, a first. and election history. what is your prediction for that this time around? both candidates are trying to court to female voters. well black females turned out for president obama and large numbers? to my unscientific prediction is yes, based on the 2008 numbers and based on the the fervor with which obama and romney are trying to court women voters. i do think that black women voters are going to be a factor in this election again, definitely. host: what a spill from -- hear from callers. from illinois. go-ahead. caller: i have a question for lauren williams.

i am an african american. a marine. i got out in 2004. my question is, as far as the black media, i the question for you in particular, and maybe i would like for you to represent four black media and answer my question for the lack of explanation of president obama's domestic policy and domestic policy i referring to -- the authorization act. where it gives the government to take people of any race and have them detained without any right in our constitution. i feel magazines like black enterprise -- the black media in general overlook fundamental

defaults and obama as government -- obam's government. host: what do you do? caller: right now i am in between jobs. i graduated from main university. i cannot find work. host: lauren williams? guest: i have not seen the coverage a lot of places anywhere, have you? host: he is not on the line. guest: i have not seen not covered in a lot of places. and i hear that criticism for sure. and i do not really know what to say. i certainly do not know to say about black enterprise and ebony.

but i certainly think that, and moving forward in the next four years, there's going to be a lot more in depth criticism across the board about the government on all of our site and magazines, for sure. host:wayne in michigan, republican caller. caller: i am wondering about the 92%. i am wondering, what percentage of that do you think are voting for him strictly because he is black? and i do not know the media doesn't point that out as being racist? if i was born to vote for mitt romney may because he is white, there would be jumping all over me and i would be a racist. but you guys can get away with that. why is that? guest: black voters are

historically a different voting blocs. 90% of black voters voted for al gore. and the vast majority of black voters have been voting for white democratic presidential candidates for decades. so to say that they are voting for this black democratic candidate just because he is black does not make sense, because if he were a white democratic candidate, he would be getting close to the same amount of the voters. that argument really just as not hold that much water when you look at the numbers of black voters who have voted for white democratic candidates in the past. host: indianapolis. michael, a democratic caller. caller: i'm calling in just to say that i got a good job, and i get my job -- i got my job

through just hard work and everything like that. for a lot of people to come on the line and say that jobs is scarce around here -- i know people that get jobs that don't really pursue them. they can get them but they don't want them. that is one that thing. for people to say that obama did not do a lot for us as far as getting jobs and whenever, he tried to get a jobs at the bill through it and congress did not pass it through because they said it was going to keep us from doing a lot of things. that is never brung up. i think the president is doing a good job as far as trying to get jobs in the united states. we should continue to try to get jobs, because there is jobs out there. host: michael?

caller: yes, i am here. host: did you watch the presidential debates? caller: i sure did. i watched the first one, i watched the second one. host: did the two candidates talk about issues that matter to you? caller: of course they did. the president talked about jobs. in my state, the state of indiana, there is jobs here. they are building filling stations every day, and that is jobs right there. i don't know why a lot of people -- i mean, not complaining, but just amazing to me how a lot of people are talking about, well, we cannot find jobs in the states, and there are a lot of jobs available, and everybody of ages and origins.

there is a lot of jobs available out there, and i don't understand why people cannot find jobs when there has been jobs out here ever since the last presidency. host: here is from the root website. "topics we want to hear. of course, topics such as affirmative action a black unemployment won't come up, but we can dream." words they addressed? guest: all, no. [laughter] none of them more, and i don't think there is ever going to be a presidential debate were those topics are addressed. i think they were sort of dream topics, like affirmative action. affirmative action is in the news. there is a supreme court case right now. the candidates want to argue with each other and talk about their differences, but there's also some topics they just --

neither of them want to talk about. the housing crisis -- neither of them want to talk about that, because i don't think that is the topic for either of them. host: let me just jump in, to give context to what you are saying. "high-rate mortgages more prevalent among blacks." guest: right. it is a topic that is of great interest to african-americans, but obama's policies have not been extremely successful, and i don't think that romney has an extremely strong plan for it. it wasn't discussed. poverty wasn't discussed, although african-americans have a 20% poverty rate. crime was mention very briefly -- the crime rate in chicago is

absolutely dismal. they have topped 400 murders already this year. romney said something about gun violence and single mothers, a whole host of single mothers, where the he connected the two. it was very cheap in terms of any sorts of solutions to gun violence or anything like that. i think that they can say they talked about it, but they didn't, really. they obviously didn't mention disproportionate rights of black unemployment. -- rates black unemployment with the private sector jobs did not talk about the decrease and a public sector jobs. african-americans at the historically over-represented in public-sector jobs. that has historically been a path to the middle class for african-americans, and we are still meeting this public-sector

jobs and it is really hurting african americans. we're talking about increasing jobs but not about what types of jobs that they are and how they might be affecting different types of the community. host: kevin, independent caller bank. caller: i just wanted to address that sen since obama is an african-american now, we need to address the african-american unemployment rate, which is over 20%. people call in and say that people are getting welfare -- nobody can survive on a welfare check for their family. nobody is sitting and collecting money at like they're just getting it from the government. it is a joke. we talk about the constitution and this stuff -- d.c. has no representation in congress. all of this gets swept under the rug, and it is african-american issues. we talk about like it is ok that they don't address african-

american issues. what good is having an black president if he does not address african-american issues? guest: this is what people say, that barack obama is an african- american president but it is a hard position because he cannot directly speak -- well, the idea is that he cannot directly speak to african-americans, because that will alienate the rest of his constituents. he has tutto this line of all times. -- he has to toe this line at all times. i'm not saying if that is right or not, but that is how he feels and how a lot of supporters, white and black, field. -- feel. i agree with you, black male unemployment is a huge deal. last month, it fell nationwide and also for blacks it fell

slightly. but something that is under- publicized is that all black job gains last month were black women. all of them. none of them were men. host: what industries? guest: not sure what the industry's work, but 100% of the gains were women. striking. that is an under-reported story, and something that deserves more attention from the highest levels, i completely agree. host: to you think there is more a lack of enthusiasm among african-american men and then with women for obama? guest: is a possibility. i've not seen the polling data, so i am not positive on that, but there is a possibility. i'm looking at articles from

north carolina, and in north carolina, the black support seems to be lower than in t.s. in practically other states that i've looked at polling data for. the black unemployment rate is a very bad there. host: this that leads to this headline from "the examiner"? is that because the african- american vote is not as enthusiastic? think i don't know, and i the obama campaign is fighting against that. david axelrod said, no, we are doubling down on north carolina, virginia and florida. some of the data from early voting -- i think 35% of early voting has been black voters -- host: in north carolina. guest: they make up 22% of the electorate, so that is a significant number. i think that maybe the obama

campaign is a little more confident in that area than the polling data would suggest. host: nancy, georgia, republican caller. caller: first off, i want to let you know that i am a social worker, and the last 20 years, one of my main objectives is to help african-americans and whites work together. the thing that has been most offensive to me about barack obama is the way that he said that he would bring all of the races together. i can honestly say that as a social worker, i have seen more divisiveness in this country than i have pre-march luther king, and this is very disturbing to me. we need to work together as a country -- white, asian, black,

no matter what you are. that is what makes this country great. if you start throwing out the racist card for every single thing that you don't agree, it causes the work that i've done for so many years to be thrown right out the door. i like that to be addressed. host: ok. lauren williams. . guest: i agree, and i think that throughout his first term, the country has been at odds in ways that i have not seen in my lifetime, either. some people might disagree that it is barack obama's fall. some people might say it is the opposition's fault, that his election brought out some of the worst in the people that don't like him or like his policies or or don't like that a black man as president. that argument can work both ways. but i certainly agree with you on the fact that something has to be done to unify america,

because things are very ugly and things are not getting done. we are in a bad spot in our country for things to not be getting done, obviously. host: democratic caller. caller: i am a black female, are registered nurse. not too long ago i did lose my job, but i was able to pick one up. i remember when barack obama was trying to get more done early on and he was blocked by the republican congress. i really do not feel like mitt romney can relate to a person like me that is considered middle-class and that really cares that much. with respect to what the person said that black voters vote for him because he is black, there were a lot of white voters that did not vote for him because he was black. even in this day and time, as far as divisiveness that the

women mentioned earlier, you would be surprised by the amount of hostility you hear from white folks and just the disparaging comments, negative comments, even though this is 2012 and we have a black president. maybe it's the fact that we have a black president has brought out the very worst in a clinic in people who don't particularly like that. host: describe your enthusiasm for president obama in 2008 versus now. caller: it is not that it is so much more. it was nice because it was the first time in history that it was happening, but i still would have voted democratic. republicanl like the party can understand me. it depends on what candidate we are talking about, but i will give him another chance. i don't think that mitt romney is going to do any better than

that. a lot of these debates, we have seen that he just echoes what he says did he has not really come out with a lot of things that he would do necessarily differently and he is not pinpoint exactly what he would do differently other than planned parenthood, other than cutting pbs. and then he mentioned with the gun laws. but other than that, he does not sound like he is saying a lot different. guest: i think a lot of what you are saying is a lot of what i have seen in some of the polls i have seen and some of the things we have heard from our readers at the root, the opinion of a lot of black obama's supporters. this is how a lot of black obama supporters feel, that obama deserves a second chance because of all the challenges, and this is why so many people support him for a second term. host: odette at little rock,

arkansas. caller: i would like you to address the perceived level of disrespect to this president and voter suppression efforts and the impact this will have an african-americans. guest: so i think that -- i think that with black voters, one of the things -- one of their connections with barack obama is that a lot of the disrespect that they see launched at him they feel personally. as the head of state, someone disrespecting barack obama, feel something similar -- they feel something similar to the manager of their job, someone disrespecting them. it is a very personal thing. when someone insults obama, a

lot of black supporters take it personally. i think that disrespect against obama drives enthusiasm. in debates, when mitt romney tells him to sit down, i think that rankles the support of black supporters and it impacts their positive feelings about mitt romney. on that level, if it is not driving enthusiasm toward obama, is definitely low rent any enthusiasm they might have had for mitt romney. -- is definitely low rent any enthusiasm they might have had for mitt romney. as for voter suppression, there's a huge get-out-the-vote effort as a result of these voter i.d. laws, and in addition to what ever get out the vote efforts that the campaign has, there is the advancement project and other organizations that are working to educate voters about

a voter rights and voter registration and things they need to bring to the polls. and there is this extra layer of information that voters are getting this time around that they were not getting the last time that will, i think, propelled more voters to the polls this time around. host: sheri, republican caller. caller: i would like to comment on how impressive that this young woman is. she has fielded every question with knowledge and poise. my father was a union organizer and i come from a democratic background, but this year in a gesture as a republican, because every immigration laws ever passed in the history of the united states was to protect american workers from unfair trade. i see the unemployment in the black community and the legal hispanic community, and it is huge. and yet president obama is right

now issuing work permits to up to 2 million, and that figure was quoted in "the washington post" -- up to 2 million new workers to meet the qualification of being from 15 up to 30 even though they furnish their own proof that no one can check it to me that is mind-boggling, at a time when young people call in to you saying "i cannot get a job at night graduated from college." he is opening up what scarce education money there is to a group of people, mainly to mexico, which has an unemployment rate of 4%. does anybody check the facts? it also concerns me about the voter suppression. in mississippi, where black voters -- there are more black voters in mississippi than any other state in the union -- it was put on the ballot, actually

put on the ballot. mississippi black voters, by a percentage of like 90%, but voted for voter i.d. and they weren't fools. host: ok. lord williams. guest -- lauren williams. guest: honestly, the immigration debate, for black voters at least, it does not seem to be a major campaign issue. i think it is a wedge issue. on a smaller level, i think that when it is brought up, it can be divisive in the black community, but on a larger level, i don't think that it is part of the conversation at all in the black community so much. particularly on the national level, and i don't know if that is going to change in the next

four years. but it has not really been something that has moved to the needle with african-americans at this time around. as to the voter i.d. in mississippi, i wasn't aware that they -- that black voters voted for it overwhelmingly in mississippi. i do know that in places like pennsylvania and ohio and florida, some of the things that republican secretaries of state and state legislatures have done were highly suspicious to the justice department, and prompted investigations and have really rankle the democrats and critics who say that it looks more like a voter suppression than just, you know, combating voter fraud.

there is something in there. the critics of a voter i.d. law s say that to some certain extent, these laws are trying to prohibit blacks and latinos from voting, and whether that is true or not, no ni don't know. but that is why they say. these laws have been blocked in a lot of places for these reasons. host: charlene in milwaukee, wisconsin. democratic caller. caller: i am in my mid-50's, and i'm a democrat, retired. i have seen a lot of things that have happened in my lifetime -- civil rights, martin luther king, the whole bit. i have a real hard deal figuring out what is wrong with a lot of young blacks.

because obama is in office, i guess they think that he is supposed to do everything. he is the president paid he is a black president, sure, but he is still the president. don't blame him for the misconceptions of having to have a black man in office and then being able to get a job. if obama was a white president, what would the issues truly be? i don't believe that the woman in mississippi by saying that 90% of an african-americans voted for id -- i think there must have been something attached to that amendment, or the voting bill that allowed blacks to vote for it in spite of what it meant. i think she threw that in. i don't think that mississippi has the right to do that unless the federal government allows them to do it because of the civil rights law that has some bearing on the southern states

changing voter rights laws because of the history of the dixie states. host: fred in new york, republican caller. caller: i will vote for a black president if he worked similar to j.c. watts -- were similar to j.c. watts or alan keyes or thomas sowell. these a black man understand that we are a republic. this president has a socialist agenda appeared he was brought up that way and he wants to be that way. host: what is your evidence that he has a socialist agenda? what are you referring to? caller: because of the way he thinks the government has the upper hand and should control all the states and what they do it. he is not for state's rights as

much as he should be. he thinks the answer to our problem is government. the mess in our government is not that they did not get enough money down there, it is that they mismanaged what they did get. fred in --that is read i i forget the state. lauren williams? guest: nope. host: next call. caller: thank you for "washington journal" and allowing our boys to be heard. -- voice to be heard. we arneeded to get more informed and in terms of what the political process really means for us as african- americans. i have done extensive research.

i agree with the last caller, the republican. this is a republic. we are better off as a people statistically it right after reconstruction than we are today. millions of our men are sitting in prisons. millions of our men, it was just stated, cannot get jobs, even jobs were the enough to support a family. this is a true problem. our problem is not going to be solved running to vote for anyone, particularly any of these two people that are running. our problem will be solved economically. we have economic challenges that we as a people need to meet. we need to stop falling for the democratic mumbo jumbo that we can run off to the polls every four years. i am 49 years old. we have been in this situation since i have been a conscious adults.

host: who are you going to vote for? caller: neither one. neither one is worth me leaving my house to stand in a line to vote for, not as an african- american. neither one of these men can address the issues that are prevailing in my community, and neither one of them will. when our president for his own minister under the bus, that let you know that he was going to throw his people under the bus, and he has done that. my people better wake up our only hope is dr. claude anderson. this man has the agenda that can get african-americans where we need to be in this country, and we need to go back to republic values, as the gentleman said, and do with this country allows us to do -- host: ok, kathy, we got your point. what did you hear in that caller? guest: well, i heard some frustration, and i heard

something i have heard before, that the two-party system doesn't work and we need a different set up. that obama is not for black people, i have heard that from people for and people who don't want to vote. it is not the vast majority of people, but definitely a sentiment that is out there. host: jackson, mississippi. democratic caller. caller: i just wanted to let the caller that said that 90% of us voted for border idea, that is not true. and the animosity -- you know, it takes a long on the democratic side and republican side to get this country going. my thing is, for the president, he does not have held on the republican side. they have not voted for anything that he has tried to do. this country is going to have to

wake up and do a lot of things. as far as mitt romney, all the lies that he has told, people are not holding them accountable for having any integrity. there is a lot going on on both sides that needs to be cleared up. host: 1 last phone call. pikesville, maryland. republican caller. caller: i personally think that obama has done an ok job working with what he has. i also say that what i have seen, and i'm 74 years old -- what i have seen is that from day one since this man has been in office, and they have not respected the president. pilot for a good example, a vice presidential -- i looked for a good example of vice- presidential debate. if you look at your tapes, you see that the vice president on the republican side never once addressed president obama as the

president. i notice that joe biden always, when he talked about mitt romney, called him gov. mitt romney. what they have done is basically chipped away with racist-type situations. you take your radio commentators, you look at fox, and this is where most people are getting information about obama. as far as obama being black, all you have to do -- anyone in this country who have a 401k plan, look at what it was the day obama took office and look at what it is today. things have progressed. i don't know what they expected from this man. host: lauren williams, what will you be watching for on election night? guest: well, obviously, we will be watching the contested swing states. that is what everybody is going to be watching for pri everyone

will be watching ohio and florida and virginia and north carolina. those are the main things. we will be looking to see -- it will be a really, really, really, really late night. [laughter] it will just be exciting to see how it turns out. host: lauren williams, deputy editor of the root. the website is theroot.com. thank you for talking to our viewers. guest: thank you. host: we are looking at those nine at swing states that lauren williams was just referring to. brian crowley of the crowley political report has been covering every major statewide florida since the 1980's. later, we will talk to the florida republican party chairman, lenny curry. first, a news update from c-span

radio. >> less than two weeks to the election, and president obama campaigns in iowa, colorado, and nevada. he is holding rallies from morning to night and appearing on "at the tonight show with jay leno." he will also be calling of orders from air force one. it is the first of a two-day trip. you can see him speaking at a rally in iowa. watch it on c-span or listen to it on c-span radio. republican presidential nominee mitt romney is, too, on the move. he will be in nevada before 83- stops when an ohio tomorrow. paul ryan travels to cleveland today, where he is expected to tell voters that romney-rai and administration would protect safety programs and overhauled benefits for wealthy americans. live coverage of paul ryan's remarks begins at 2:20 p.m.

eastern on c-span, and you can listen to it on c-span radio. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> i regularly watch "washington journal," i watched the call-in shows in the morning, and whenever there is a hearing that is of any significance, i will soon end. i also watched c-span on line. c-span provides the source of unvarnished information to us that is rare in today's spin- oriented society. we cannot regularly get the kind of information that we need to make decisions for ourselves. we often have to hear it from the left or the right. the great thing about c-span is that you get the information directly from policy makers said that you can make up your own mind about who is right and what is good for the country. >> gregory evans watches c-span

on time warner cable. c-span, created by america's cable companies and in 1979, brought to you as a public service by television provider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: starting today we are looking at battleground 2012, the nine states that hold the keys to the election. "the new york daily news" lays it out for us this morning. "neck and neck." "bam and mitt hit the road in nine swing states." the polls show that it is type in all those states. the ninth is florida, and that is where we begin today with brian crowley of the crowley political report. mr. crowley, you are joining us from florida this morning. why is florida about downstate? guest: florida is always a battleground state, and it is very important in every

election. 29 electoral votes, that is the biggest reason we are always a battleground state. host: break it down, the state, for us along the corridors. people often talk about the major highways that separate the state. and how they tend to vote. guest: well, the biggest swing area is hillsborough county, the tampa bay area. that is where the biggest swing vote comes. if we look at our past history, in 2000, at al gore lost hillsborough county, and in 2004, john kerry lost hillsborough county. then at barack obama won it hillsborough county in 2008. hillsborough county is always a very important swing the county. there are a lot of independent voters in the tampa bay area, the type of voters that

tend to vote at the last moment. for democrats, it is crucial, with the mother lode of the democratic votes are. every time they don't pull out large numbers in the fort lauderdale and miami and palm beach areas, they lose. it is very important for the president to pull up big numbers. as important as hillsborough county is, the democrats have to do well in south florida or they lose the election. host: the polls show mitt romney with a one-percentage point lead. where is the president looking strong, where is the president looking weak, and the same for governor romney in this state? guest: i think the president is looking moderately strong in south florida. there is a hard push on the republican side, if you pull away some of the democratic jewish voters who have had some hesitation with the president over middle east issues, there has been a very heavy play of an ad by a super pac featuring

netanyahu, the prime minister of israel, who basically says that the country is in danger. he does not speak obama's name in particular, but he certainly alludes to the fact that if we continue on the path we are going, things cannot go well for israel. that is something that will give it some jewish voters in florida pause. it is not that the republicans expected to get the majority of jewish voters or any other group that might lean towards barack obama. all they needed to do is nip off some percentage points for barack obama. if he does not do really well in south florida -- i'm talking big numbers -- he is going to be in trouble in that state. on the other hand, mitt romney needs to do pretty well within the hispanic community, he needs to decrease barack obama's usually large numbers in the hispanic community.

he needs to do very, very well in hillsboro, he needs to do well in jacksonville, throughout the i-4 corridor, which includes orlando appeared although in past election cycles, orlando has tended to lean and democratic. host: and voters in the 2010 census, persons of 65 years and older made up about 70% of the florida population. guest: if you had any doubt that we are a large retiree community in this state, that would be set aside if you saw the brush of medicare adds that we have going on in the state. that is a huge issue in this state. you see those kinds of ads being run not only on the presidential campaign, but congressional races, even though the legislature does not have much to do with medicare, they do

have much to do with medicaid. playing with the notion that seniors will be threatened if republicans take control of the white house has been at a big issue for the democrats. they like to play up the idea that seniors will get vouchers for medicare, and vouchers reminds me a great deal of when the republicans were trying to push changes to the estate tax, and one clever republican strategist said that we need to stop calling it the estate tax, because no one knows what that is. let's call it the death tax. no one wants to tax ma for dying. when people hear "voucher," they get very nervous. anything that messes with fixed income and they get nervous about. host: is the senior population of a florida leaning towards obama then?

guest: i think the majority, particularly in south florida, will lean towards obama, but there are pockets of seniors who feel strongly about the deficit. they viscerally dislike obama. they feel like the government is out of control. for whatever reason they are less concerned about medicare, but they believe that obama is going to destroy the economy, and i have to tell you, i run into any number of conservative seniors -- a gentleman just the other day who was convinced that barack obama is a muslim, a communist. i have heard him call a communist. there is a certain segment of seniors out there that are very frightened by barack obama. host: and that is the nature of this "new york times" piece this morning. it talks about the billboard in

florida, showing president obama vowing to the saudi king and blames him for soaring gasoline prices. it talks with socialism, communism, being a muslim, and a new anti-obama dvd. we heard from one voter in florida group received it this saturday. there were three different anti- obama at videos that were tested to see how far they could go to give us an idea of the tenor of the campaign in florida. guest: oh, the tenor is very high style on both sides. i would have to give a little bit more of an edge to the hard- core conservatives -- i don't want to lump everybody together. but there is a certain group of conservatives, as i just mentioned, who just have this visceral hatred of barack obama that goes well beyond any policy issues. and even people i consider

fairly thoughtful look me straight in the eye and, as i ord, describe a communist, lease as a socialist, that recommends that the country is on its way to destruction if obama gets a second term, talking about this being the most divisive time in our countries history, and they feared it it is all obama's fall. i sort of smile when i hear people describing this as the most divisive time in the country. they don't pay much attention to their history classes. at the democratic side is starting to get some of that fire back. but i have to say that what i have observed mostly on the democratic side, especially the lean-obama voters, is that they have been the "heavy sigh" voter. they may have been enthusiastic for the president four years ago, but today they tended to have this heavy sigh -- "i am

not really fond of mitt romney, i don't dislike him a lot, but i would still kind of like to vote for obama," and this sort of heavy sigh. those sorts of the voters may have been peeled away by mitt romney after the first debate people who were less enthusiastic about voting for obama this time. host: john in sarasota, florida, republican caller. caller: mr. crowley, i appreciate hearing you. i lived in sarasota county, and hillsborough county, tampa, we will go republican. but orlando is not a republican country. they had allen grayson -- alan grayson as a representative, and then they got rid of him. "the sentinel," the orlando paper, endorsed him.

and from my former home town in boston, a fine university, suffolk county, they have polls every four years, and they are pulling people out because it is a lost cause and in the state four obama . i think that obama is off route in florida -- host: john, i was actually that show romney up in florida. guest: i will be in boston in a few weeks, and i really love and boston. i have to disagree with you a little bit. there is evidence that obama is working very hard in florida. they've spent a lot of time in florida, they've spent a fortune on campaign ads in florida, and i don't think they've given up

on the notion of winning florida. that is a reason that florida is a swing state. there is also a tactical thing here. they cannot concede florida. i do believe that florida is still in play, don't get me wrong. but as a tactical thing, it would not be good for the president or, frankly, mitt romney, to be suddenly pulling out of the state. they would be hammered in the media. the last candidate to pull out of the state was bill clinton in 1992, in the final weeks, and always said that he regretted leaving, because he felt that he could win at the state. he obviously one of the presidency, but it hurt him in florida when he pulled out. the race remains very close in this state, although i agree that the edge right now seems to be for mitt romney. host: brian crowley, what about newspaper endorsements? you're right about it on -- you write about it on

crowleypoliticalreport.com. "the tampa bay times" endorsed barack obama. do they matter? guest: i think the matter less than they used to. the campaign's love them because they can tie them into the campaign commercials. newspaper endorsements matter a great deal for down-ballot candidates and issues, but a little less for presidential campaigns. i think that most people have their minds made up at this point. frankly, if you are an undecided voter at this point, i don't know what new information you are waiting for. [laughter] i would be a little puzzled, because there's a lot of stuff out there and the campaigns have not been hiding. "the orlando sentinel" indoors after the first debate -- endorsed after the first debate, and it probably helped to get the supporters of mitt romney excited about flowed at a time when they were feeling a

little momentum after the first debate. "the tampa bay times" endorsed a few days later. in none of those cases was that a particular surprise. host: lucy in florida. caller: i have a few reasons why i went from obama to romney. the present for that he is half- white. what turned me off -- president forgot that he is half-white print what took me off -- turned me off is the obamacare. it ,y pelosi said "sign then read it."

i believe that obama has walked all over the constitution to he bypasses this congress when he cannot get his own way, and he cites presidential privilege. he and his wife have taken it to many vacations. -- too many vacations. it costs millions of dollars to send her and her friends to spend -- host: are you a retired -- caller: i live in a place with about 90,000 residents, and i think there are a lot of republicans in this area. host: did you vote for president obama in 2008 or john mccain? caller: obama. not this time around, though. host: brian crowley, go ahead. guest: i have been to the villages many times. republican candidates love going to the villages.

it is a strong republican of income and the woman who just spoke would have been an unusual very strong-- republican area, and the woman who just spoke would have been an unusual voter in 2008 to vote for president obama. it is an extremely republican area. the people who develop to the villages also are big contributors to the republican party. criticizing the president for taking many vacations and trips overseas -- we heard some of the same complaints about president bush during his term. i think that everybody is entitled to a vacation. certainly welcome to come to florida. host: she was calling from lady lake, florida could where are the villages located? guest: roughly northwest of orlando. host: jim in st. petersburg,

democratic caller. caller: hello, brian. i just wanted to express my concern with the republicans. some say that barack is a muslim and all this negative stuff about our president. i think that we have had one of the best presidents we have had in a long time. i voted for him in 2008. i was not sure because of all the hearsay. now we have a republican running against him, mitt romney, and nothing coming out of his mouth to me sounds truthful. i don't know how we would risk our country to vote on someone that there is no truth in what he is saying. i don't get it.

host: hey, jim, can i ask you about the senate race? how do you plan to vote -- for bill nelson, the incumbent? caller: yes, i am going to stick with the democrat party, because i feel like the seniors and supporting -- democrats pretty much support everyone coming together in the universe. and peace. that is how i see it. we want good for all. host: here is jim on our twitter page. guest: well, i do think that the president's campaign has struggled more this year that

has been acknowledged. -- than has been acknowledged heard one of the biggest problems this president has had has been obamacare and his inability to communicate what obamacare would do. the republicans have done a very good job of portraying obamacare as something that will be destructive to the economy and destructive to small businesses, destructive to individuals. the president and his communications team have not done a very good job of communicating exactly what obamacare does to help individuals and help businesses. i think they have done a really sloppy job of that. in many respects, on that campaign issue, they have lost. you see a lot of that during the campaign this year to hit the campaign also suffered some one from being on the sidelines during a very intense among republican primary, much longer than people expected it would be. some of that came home in the first debate when the president

seemed a distant and in some ways ill-prepared. he certainly seems to have found his stride a bit in the last few weeks, but some missteps by the democrats over the last 11, 12 months have helped lead to this point where it is a much closer race than they expected. host: we are talking about the battleground state of florida here, with candidates crisscrossing across the country and hitting each of these nine battleground states and pouring their resources into these states as well. we will continue over the next nine days looking at swing states. as brian crowley mentioned, unemployment in that state, 8.7% in september. the 2008 vote went to president obama with a net of 2.8% in that state. this talk about unemployment and the economy, brian crowley. how much of that is a factor in

florida? guest: i don't think it was a coincidence that during the foreign policy debate, mitt romney kept bringing it back to the economy. most people turning in were not going to be paying that close attention to some of the foreign policy issues, and i don't think many motors go to t many -- voters go to the polls to vote based on what our decisions will be with china or cuba, for that matter. but they do vote with their pocketbooks. statewide unemployment in florida is 8.7%, but it is much higher in various pockets of florida. in some counties, as high as 12% on a plan. as we all know, that does not talk about the under-employed. the economy is still struggling in florida. we have signs of it getting better, but i heard a story that foreclosures in the state are the highest in the nation paid there's a lot of economic pressure in the state. people are feeling the pain, and

whoever sells the economic message best is going to do well in this state. i should add that the republican party in the state is very strong. in >> only have the governor's office, three cabinet -- they not only have the governor's office and three cabinet offices, but the state democratic party is probably the weakest it has been in its history. host: michael, independent caller ban. caller: my name is michael, and no matter who wins, whether it is ronny, obama, or even the third party, we have a war going on in afghanistan and elsewhere, but we have a war on our borders, that the drug war, like in florida. my question is -- it's like the legalize organization mafia is

going against the mafia itself. the question is, again, who is going to benefit from this thing in the end? is it going to be the states or is it going to be the mafia itself? host: michael, what are you referring to? caller: drug war, weapons brought in, and agents being shot. host: ok. brian crowley, is that an issue in florida? guest: i thought it was very telling during the foreign policy debate that there was no discussion about latin america, mexico, no discussion of cuba or haiti. in mexico, the drug war is very intense. we have and border issues there. it was very telling that these campaigns did not get into those issues in any depth, or at all in some cases. i guess it just circles me back to they clearly believe --

certainly the republicans clearly believe that the economy is the overriding issue for voters. 1.5 million voters in this state are hispanic. many of these hispanic voters have a fairly recent ties to their homeland and other parts of the world. i think that not addressing that community more directly was perhaps a mistake that night. host: jeb bush, the former florida governor, and the head of the free cuba center in dc write in today's "wall street journal" -- "president kennedy showed fortitude and resolve in forcing the soviet union to stand down. whoever wins the election ought to deal similarly with today's intimidation and deception from the castro regime." bocor town, flor caller -- brian

crowley, did you want to jump in on that? guest: one of the things missed by people outside the state is that the cuban vote, while not what it used to be, certainly a hard-core exile community that believes in the embargo and his hardcore with issues relating to cuba, but there are second- and third- and fourth-generation cuban-americans that have more distance from castro and the regime and are more likely to vote democrat and more likely to not favor the continuation of the embargo. host: roy, go ahead. caller: i live about five miles away from lynn university, and i felt a strong empathic connection to my candidate mitt romney that night had i been moderating, i would have grilled mitt romney a little bit more on his domestic policy. on the home front, i am just wondering if mr. romney and his wife are ever going to consider

taking another position, or are they going to keep bumping their private sectors in missionary, grinding their knees? host: we will move on. just for those who may have missed this, for election night 2012, what will you be watching for? guest: i am going to be watching the democratic margin in broward, dade, and palm beach counties. it is critical for the president that he has very large numbers in these counties. that is where he built up his lead. in 2008, the president want 14 of 67 counties. -- won 14 of 67 counties. he needs to really win big in those counties by several hundred thousand votes.

the south florida margin in 2008 was 535,000 votes. if he doesn't do well in south florida, he is going to lose. he also needs to at least keep it close in hillsborough county, the tampa bay area. the republicans would do well to win big in hillsborough county. the republicans will win in a lot of the other smaller, rural counties. they should do well in southwest florida, the fort myers- sarasota area. if we see any slippage in that area, that would spell some trouble for mitt romney. orlando -- the democrats should win the orlando area. the president should benefit from the large part to rican population that is heavily democrat -- puerto rican population that is heavily democrat in the orlando area. if he is not doing well in the

orlando area, it is not a good night for president obama. host: before we let you go, could we have a repeat of 2000, bush before? guest: --b bush v. gore? guest: we had a bit of the ballot problem in our county, and they were in. and they are copying the ballots that people have sent in on to new ballots. because the ballots that are defective cannot go through. they have to take newly printed ballots and the voters who sent in those ballots, they are copying that the voters' ballots to create a new ballot that can go through the tabulators. there are observers from both the presidential campaigns as well as the parties and state officials that have come down to observe. i am sure there are many lawyers in the room who observed the

process as they try to transcribe -- transcribe the copies of the ballot. i would not be surprised if this election turns out to be very close and florida. host: what about early voting? guest: early voting gets under way 10 days before the election. and ends three days before the election. a lot of absentee ballots have already come in. i think you are going to see some very heavy early voting. it is worth noting that the democrats have a 500,000 voter registration edge in the state. there are 4.2 million republicans come up 4.7 million democrats, 2.8 million that our independents. we have 11.8 million voters in this state. host: brian crowley, with the crowley political report. covering statewide races for

many decades. we will continue our conversation knocking at the battleground state of florida, coming up next florida republican party chairman, lauren williams. and later on we will talk tosteven van core. >> it is 9:01 eastern. an update on the september 11 attacks on united states consulate in libya, reuters reports that white house and state department officials were advised via e-mail at two hours after the attack that an islamic militant group had claimed credit. the in a specifically mentioned that the libyan group was claiming responsibility. the e-mails also showed how united states diplomats described the attack to washington, even as it was still under way. united states ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans were killed in the benghazi attacks. turning to syria, the u.n. envoy to syria said the syrian

government and some rubble leaders have agreed to a ceasefire. he says that the government of president assad will issue a statement on a truce today or tomorrow. the fighting in syria has killed more than 34,000 people since march of last year. united states navy warship has rescued five filipino fisherman. they were standing on the roof of their sinking vote. united states embassy spokeswoman in manila says the fishing vote started taking on water the previous day. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> what he just said is not true. >> briefly, senator, you need to do a better job of explaining your own record. you are really messing up my record. you are looking at somebody else. and it is a shame.

senator, the people of the state of florida are tired of you saying one thing to them, and then going back to washington, d.c. and voting with barack obama 98% of the time. they are tired of that. the one to to look them in the eye and tell them what you are going to do for them instead of what you are going to do for barack obama. >> is that the only line that you have memorized? [laughter] >> are you going to own up to it, senator? >> let me tell you that for you to not have produced it in the house, where we were trying to produce it in the senate is just -- here we are in 2012. it is true that you voted for a redefinition of a rape as forcible rape. seems to me that rape is

rape. >> with less than two weeks until the election, followed key races on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: from jacksonville, fla. at the florida republican party chairman, lauren williams is joining us to continue -- lauren lenny curry is joining us. what is your ground game like in florida and how will you make up for that? guest: they held a 600,000 vote advantage just over a year ago. we narrowed that to run for 50,000. we made significant progress. we feel like we are in a good spot in terms of our base. the polls show that the momentum

is leaning towards mitt romney and the undecided. it is putting everything we have into turning out the republican base. host: what is your strategy? guest: is a door knocking. and it is sorbates. our ground game right now is exponentially better than it was in 2008. it is unlike anything we have seen since 2004 with over 10 million voter contacts. there's a lot of energy out there. volunteers. we began pouring in after the first debate and that momentum continues today. host: you of volunteers pouring in. , need you have on the ground? guest: we have got over 40 offices throughout the state. these offices are packed on any given day. over 10 million voter contacts. we are ahead of where we were

in 2004 when george w. bush carried florida. we are not taking anything for granted. the obama campaign has a really good ground game in florida. they began working on it in the state right after he was elected. we will be working down to the wire. we feel like we are prepared. we are going to continue to contact voters. brian crowley about the importance of hillsborough county, how's it looking for republicans? guest: i heard them say that obama would have to win hillsborough county, the have called every presidential election since 1960 with the exception of one. hillsborough is important. the time i have spent in hillsborough county, it is when you look at what is on the ground compared to what we saw four years ago. there are many more mitt romney sons compared to the obama signs. the energy that you saw four

years ago -- our internal polling tells us we are in a good spot with mitt romney in these counties that matter. duval county -- he played well back in 2008, obama. he got 48% of the vote. if he did that again it would allow him to minimize its losses and offset anything we might do in south florida. we do not expect that will happen again. host: what will you be watching for on election night? guest: you know, you can look at the spreadsheets, you watch the counties, it is going to be close. on election night, frankly, it is in the hands of the voters. i am going to sit back and believe that we put everything we had into this race. that mitt romney's message resonated and we will deliver florida for mitt romney.

and it will be close, but we will pull it off. host: do you think the senate race will be close? as well as the presidential race? guest: here is what we know. that connie mack was down significantly prior to the first debate. and in fact come and the call but we looked at four others were looking at, it looked like a really tough road for connie mack. when mitt romney the began to gain momentum, we saw a huge shift in the polling with connie mack and bill nelson race. the verify the polling when we saw some of our own data. connie mack is within striking distance. is not as close between them as it is in the presidential race. but if the momentum continues, and connie mack continues getting his message out, it is possible. we feel like we could pull this off with our ground game host:

here is a tweet from alford, he says mitt romney may show a complete lack of leadership during the farm policy debate. it matters. guest: well i do not know how he showed a complete lack of leadership. he has demonstrated a very wide and deep understanding of foreign policy. of the countries involved, of their leaders. the president of united states said that night, i was there in the hall, and he said his foreign policy in the middle east and around the world has been a success. yet, benghazi was burning, with a dead ambassador, two dead navy seals from a dead american, and other debt american, syria has killed 50,000 people. we find out the white house knew that a terrorist organization took responsibility for the attack, yet they continued with the message that it was a video. it can certainly have a debate on how to handle the middle east.

but it is indisputable that the middle east is in chaos right now, and in chaos under the leadership of president obama. host: with seniors the majority in florida, and you expect seniors to give up medicare and social security to make the president said he can cut it? guest: that is a false question. mitt romney is not going to get rid of social security or medicare. in fact, mitt romney has talked about the need to reform medicare for people my age, so that it exists for the next generation. medicare is not going to change or existing seniors, nor is social security. host: elektra rowboats up for grabs. how do florida voters vote -- electoral voters are up for grabs, how do florida voters vote? guest: early voting begins on the 27. absentee voting is going on right now.

and let me talk a little bit about the absentee voting. we have about a 5% advantage on the absentee vote right now. republicans have voted just over 40,000 more votes than democrats. the good news for us is, going into early voting, and into election day, we have about 200,000 more super voters than they do. we feel like we are in a good spot going back to the ground game and giving where we are in absentee votes right now. host: let us get back to phone calls. independent caller, morena. go ahead. caller: i was listening to brian crowley when he was saying that both of the candidates need to mention immigration reform. and president obama was given a tough question and did not answer why.

he did not even put any legislation for hispanics. and i think that florida, virginia, california -- this is an important topic that the president and romney need to answer. they need to let us know if they are looking out for latinos and the need to let us know what exactly they are doing about foreign policy. guest: first dimension that the president did not do anything on immigration. there's a whole host of issues that the president did not do anything on purity did not focus on the economy, immigration. he did not focus on debt, deficit. focused on his health care law. when you want to make the case for change, for firing somebody, you have to demonstrate that they have failed, and the fact

is indisputable that the president failed on all of those fronts. when you look at hiring someone, you look at a resonate, you look at their history. history is a really good predictor of how someone will preform in the future. that is white pepper resonates in interviews when we hire folks. governor romney has a history of success. sports authority, his business ventures in creating jobs, the case for change is there. well as dealney would g with our debt. we know this about his history. president obama never had that track record or history of success. host: we are talking with lenny curry, join in us from jacksonville, fla.. we have this special one for florida residents, 202-585-388 3. our next call comes from

florida. caller: i wanted to get some information about, i lived in district 16, which is buchanan's district. i haven't heard anything about the polling on his race with fitzgerald. guest: buchanan we believe is going to be retained as an incumbent. the polling looks good. i would say to republicans watching, you never want to be apathetic or take any rate for granted. show up and vote for buchanan and make sure your neighbors and friends do as well. we are in a good spot in that race. we expect to retain our own comments and pick up a couple of other congressional seats. host: what about alan west versus patrick murphy and also

florida's second district there wi? >> our polling tells us that sutherland will return. again, we do not want to be apathetic. this is a presidential rate. it is clear to affect everything from the obama campaign. we are encouraging oliver voters in each congressional district -- encouraging all of our voters in each congressional district to vote. our message has been at this, the stakes are too high. this is not a time to be politically correct. we must tell our friends, and church towers, tell everyone why we are voting for mitt romney. and for our congressman as well. if we offend someone in doing that, so be it.

the stakes are just too high. this is about the future. host: democratic caller, patrick. you are on. go ahead. caller: i believe mitt romney is a flip-flop are and a liar. he states he is for 100% of the people, but behind closed doors, he says he does not care about 47%. he says the president is the reason for the high oil prices, he mentioned the keystone pipeline from canada. well, the president has nothing to do with oil prices, it is demand, opec and the oil speculators. host: we will take as two issues. guest: does better romney himself said that the remarks made about the 47%, he could have said them more eloquently. they could have been better stated. gov. romney is in fact for all of the united states of america.

right now, in the united states, we have a spending problem and a job creation problem. over 20 million people and the united states do not have a job. the of $16 a trillion in debt. republicans made a mistake in the past year to go back to 2006, the voters threw out of the house. the senate. we acknowledged our mistake. but the key difference between republicans and democrats, it go back to that era, we got caught up to the culture of d.c., we got caught up to spending, there did not seem to be a consequence. it was a mistake and we own up to it. the mistake for the democrats is an ideology, it is aware of light. we see that the way that you president has governed. so, if you are looking for someone who will solve our problems and get us back to work nationally, mitt romney is the director his track record and as resonate shows that.

if you are in florida, we are headed in the right direction because of the florida legislature. over 150,000 private-sector jobs were created in florida. i will tell you the president of united states oppose the policies of not at all beneficial to what we are doing in florida. we are seeing job creation, more job creation in that republican guard patrol led states and in the blue states. host: in miami, paul, republican. caller: i want to stress that we need a balanced budget amendment. i want to hear it on the radio. i want to hear the candidates stress it. that is the most important thing that we need. we cannot be spending what we are spending. and i know that the other side against us is going to say that, in the case of an emergency, i want something added in the case

of a hurricane or something like that. so we cannot spend $1 trillion every year that we do not have. i want to hear mitt romney. guest: governor romney is committed to cutting our debt, reduce in our deficits. i can tell you when you talk about a balanced budget, talk about the united states senate race, senator nelson as on the senate committee, and have not passed a budget in hundreds of days. connie mack is committed to a balanced budget. but the bigger point is, and everyone says, what are the specifics of mitt romney? the president of united states is in office for almost four years now, and he is not attacked any of these problems. in fact, a day or two ago he put out that the pundits are saying

-- is the same old thing, it is nothing new. the president has failed us. i would ask your viewers, when you are evaluating the cases there, it is indisputable that president obama has not dealt with deficits, debt or job creation. and if you get the history of mitt romney, this is a man that every endeavor he has ever approached, he has been successful. he will get our spending under control and get americans back to work. host: about that put out by the obama administration about his agenda for the next four years, it can find it on our web site. we will go to john next and illinois. democratic caller. caller: my main question is -- the gentleman thinks that a republican administration would do differently in the middle east? not specifically benghazi or

libya. host: what would republicans do differently in the middle east? guest: governor romney brought in the debate that after the president was elected, he went on the apology tour, did he go back and watch the debate -- you can read the president, he did not like that president, he did not really even respond to the question and he pivoted somewhere else. one would want to be respected around the world. we know and our own personal lives, if people do not respect you, they will run over you. and right now, we are not respected in the middle east. the president spent the first part of his administration apologizing for the united states. these are complicated issues. the house to be a discussion about how we are going to handle foreign policy geared goner romney said himself that we do not need to be engaged militarily and other countries, but other countries need to

respect us and they need to know that there will be consequences for their actions. there will be sanctions and the sanctions will be crippling. that is what mitt romney would do. host: republican caller. caller: are willing to say only a handful of people -- obama, as he says, he has not been successful. the first two years of his term, he had a majority in both the house and the senate. what did he accomplish? very little. as far as his reputation and our reputation in the middle east, he has embarrassed the american people over and over and over. and he turned his back on israel. i tell you, i have known a lot of horrible people in my life. i have never met, and i am not a

mormon, i am a baptist. but i have never met a mormon that i did not trust or like. they are good people. and i know they love this country. host: i will leave it there. if i could give you this tweet -- how many people in florida at live off of savings and come? for business they built and expect the aca taxes to cut that? guest: the question is how many live off of savings and common business and come? host: or a business they built and expect the affordable care act taxes to cut into that in come? guest: outside of my role as the florida republican party chairman, i own a business. and the affordable care act and the uncertainty of it and how it will affect our employees, what

we have seen with the health care of the last two years, there's a lot of uncertainty there. so, the affordable care act is a government takeover of health care. gov. romney is committed to appealing it and getting rid of it. it is not good for business. it creates too much uncertainty. so, it is just not the way forward. no pun intended on the obama forward campaign. host: maryland, independent caller. caller: i have two points on foreign policy. mitt romney agreed with the president's foreign policy. so how is he different from obama? and the last question i have -- mitt romney claims to be [indiscernible]

after 50 on the bottom line on job creation. host: go ahead. caller: in the debate, mitt romney did agree with some of the diplomacy in terms of foreign policy, that president obama talked-about purity also talked about a need for even more crippling sanctions. look, the record is there for president obama. iran is closer to nuclear weapons. syria, again, over 50,000 of their people slaughtered. ben gauzy still unraveling. benghazi still unraveling. that is failed foreign policy in

the middle east. as far as the economy goes, governor romney as a track record of creating jobs. he is going to do that by incensing businesses with the right regulation, the right kind of regulation, not crippling legislation and creating a tax environment that allows to invest in equipment and people, people are the most important part of any organization geared hire more people, get people back to work. and get america turned around again. here is the question we have to ask ourselves -- is this the new normal? the president would have us believe that how we live right now is the new normal. host: if i can jump in because we are running out of time. if i can add this tweet -- to criticize obama for new jobs

plan is hypocritical when the gop obstructed every attempt offered by him. guest: the president of the united states had the house and senate for two years. where was his jobs plan then? after four years after 20 million people do not have a job. i appreciate the question, but the facts are not on the side of the president. the president had a blank check for two years, the house, the senate and the presidency, and he rammed health care down our throats without any compromise with republicans. and he did not focus on jobs. it is all about jobs right now. people need a livable wage, a job, its purpose and a call in to get up in the morning. the president would tell us this is the new normal. we do not buy that. mitt romney for a higher calling, and fire purpose and a brighter day in the united

states. host: democratic caller and wisconsin. -- in wisconsin. caller: he did not agree with the president on anything as far as health care goes. he had each member of congress take from that bill. and when it finally came before the floor, not one republican congressman voted for it. that infrastructure would of had each vote in highways and would have -- our numbers would have been at five, maybe 5.6% unemployment rate. this congress agreed, and republicans in the senate as well, that they wanted this to be a one-term president. 30 percent of the people are not going to vote against obama simply because he is black. we already know that. but the man is doing a fantastic

job. is a nobel peace prize winner. because he went overseas immediately to make peace with all of the warmongering with romney. and the other night during the last debate, suddenly he is an agreement that we should bring the troops out at a certain time. everything about romney from the television commercials television commercialstapes and recordings -- from television commercials and tapes to recordings has all been a lie. to the caller said our foreign policy has produced peace. the president is a nobel peace prize -- look at the middle east. we have had that discussion. as far as back to the health care act. that is right, republicans did not vote for it. the caller made the point, he talked about bridges and roads and infrastructure. this is an important point. the president of the house and

the senate and the white house for two years. so he could have accomplished these things. he chose not to focus on the things that he is now saying that republicans blocked. host: lenny curry, thank you very much for your time. guest: always a pleasure. host: lenny curry joining us from jacksonville. we go across the aisle to hear from our next guest. let me just begin with democrats brown game in the state of florida, what does it look like and what do they need to have in place an order for president obama to win reelection in florida? to good morning and thank you for having me. clearly the ground game is looking good. traditionally on absentee ballots, it is really an election month.

and there are three phases. you have the absentee ballots, early voting, and you have the november 6 election. on absentee ballots, republicans traditionally outpace democrats 15%, sometimes 30%. right now we have 800,000 votes that have been cast in the state of florida. the post the returns on mine, we know who voted, and right of the democrats are one or two points behind republicans. that is a really good sign for democrats and for the president. host: what about the ground game? guest: that is a sign of the ground game. you see people getting the absentee ballots returned. our early voting starts on saturday. we will know what the ground game looks like on saturday. all early indicators are good. interesting that there was a poll done by the republican pollster that was done just as those had voted.

nobody is went to doubt this is a close election. a poll cannot by reuters saying obama is up by one. and other came out saying romney is up by one. the fact that this republican pollster said absentee ballot -- is a dead even race. republicans should be winning that fight four or five points. host: but what about hillsborough county? [laughter] guest: hillsborough county is the southwestern anger of what we call the corridor. that is considered to be an important county because it is considered to be the largest number of swing voters. there are large numbers of independent voters.

no party affiliates. hillsborough county is battleground zero. it is why the republicans held their convention there. right now it is neck and neck. what is interesting about that is another -- the polls are showing things are dead even. the president is going to do very well in south florida. when i say south florida, what i really mean is southeast florida. that is a miami county, palm beach county, the president will do extremely well there. large numbers of democrats there. romney has to get 53%, 54% in that corridor area. host: what about the senate race there? and the key congressional races in the second congressional district? we return from the gop chairman that he thinks that connie mack could pull this out and as two congressional races that i mentioned, and the republican

incumbents will return to congress. guest: i will tell you straight up when someone is going to win or someone is going to lose. there's no chance that connie mack will defeat -- defeat bill nelson. connie mack had some personal issues and attendance issues and congress. it speaks for the large and diverse population of a florida purity comes from southwest florida. a very strong republican area purity gets no republican advantage. bill nelson was a very well liked per cent. he is one to do exceedingly well. there's no other variable. he is from that swing area along the corridor, he is going to carry those votes very well. connie mack has no advantage because he is from deep

southwest florida. bill nelson has been above a 50% from day one. he has far more money in the bank. he will out communicate connie mack all the way through november 6. i do not know if there's a reasonable pollster who thinks connie mack is a chance of winning. to ask about congressional seats. nationally, the house has to pick up 25 to take back -- the democrats have to pick up 25 in order to take it back. it does not look like they are going to do that. florida will deliver at least two of those. former congressman alan grayson, the district got broken up. allen west got moved, physically, because he was put in with palm beach mayor. allen west is a bit of a dog fight against patrick murphy. you ask about the seat in north florida.

that is an unexpected surprise. he came in with that the party wait. he looked like he might be easily reelected. but a longtime house member, and a half to use the word beloved, the senate seat he was in for eight years over what the congressional seat very well. they know they really like al, can surprised everybody. al came out with strong numbers. 50%.lieve he was at that was a bit of a surprise. it is anybody's call to wins that race. they are spending large sums of money. you cannot turn on the television without seeing al's adds. he is a bit of a dog fight. host: ok. battleground florida is our topic. go ahead. caller: we will deliver two

house seats. we could potentially deliver three, maybe four. so, we could deliver as many as four seats for the democrats nationally. host: battleground florida is our topic for the next 20 minutes. part of our series that we are doing, focusing on those nine swing states that the candidates are putting their resources in. florida is on that list. tomorrow we will take a look at nevada. steven vancore is the florida democratic consultant. a democratic caller is up first. caller: i cannot believe these people are listening to -- i am listening to are saying this. i have never been more ashamed of being a democrat. i have never seen in more crooked administration than this.

they had a voter intimidation charge. what happens? obama's administration sweeps it under the rug. aside kind of an administration -- he has prevented the congress from being able to investigate a united states attorney. and it is just continuously -- it is just continuously crooked. i raised my kids not to be racist. but i have never seen a more racist person in my entire life. host: ok we will have steven vancore to respond. guest: i did not know that the president had the power to tell congress that cannot investigate something. but david is a registered democrat who votes republican. and we have a lot of that in north florida, people who are

registered democrat. they tend to vote republican at the top of the ticket. and david, i would guess but some of the voted democrat locally for your local elections. that is an important demographic. the president does well among -- north of the 1-4 corridor, a lot of world democrats, who historically vote republican, and vote more democrat down the ticket. that is important for the president. he can hold his own against th them he will win the debate. host: here is a tweet, do we want to reelect obama only to impeach and remove him for the benghazi cover-up? there's news this morning there were official e-mails to the white house saying there was a militant group responsible for that attack. do you think displays in the

state of florida? guest: not really. first of all, the president did extremely well. i would be the first to admit he did not do very well in the first debate. is done well in the second two. what you saw in the debate on foreign policy was the ever- changing mitt romney, the etch a sketch mitt romney, changing. two weeks prior he said -- i thought he said he likes the timeline in afghanistan and we have to get out quickly. at the end of the day, the accumulation of what the american people saw in that debate was pretty much mitt romney saying, me too to obama's foreign policy. it was almost like everything obama would say, mitt romney couldn't say i agree, but clearly he was agreeing with the president's policy geared u. i thought it was interesting

that mitt romney almost wanted benghaziway from the then gauz comments. when president obama is speaking, he is not speaking just to the electorate but other countries. i thought he did very well in that debate. i do not think that might grow issue is an important public policy issue. with florida voters, with a large jewish population. especially in southeast florida. they care about how the president has treated as real. and by all accounts they are very happy. host: bill on twitter -- what can we expect from another obama term? guest: floridians care about -- jobs and the economy.

we are looking at a state that is starting to turn things around. the president inherited a bad situation two on paid wars. the largest expansion of medicare that went unpaid for. i heard mr. curry explaining about the deficit. let us remember how we got that the opposite. it took a few years to get things turned around. we are looking at 31 straight months of job growth. job growth is headed in the right direction. we just got good news in florida earlier this week that for the first time and 40 years we are predicting a budget surplus. and we are heavily reliant on sales tax for our budget. for the first time in 4 years we are looking at a budget surplus. things are turning around. consumer confidence is up in florida. it is an interesting contrast. we have a governor, and i have

been critical of our governor, and i would say that our governor has been singularly and almost obsessively focused on jobs, and that is a good thing. he has been traveling around the world helping businesses get together and bring home business deals. that is having an impact. when romney comes to afford and says the economy is horrible, scott can say, wait a second, our economy is doing pretty good. that is thwhat florida voters ae looking for. 31 straight months of job growth. the fact checkers argue with the 4.1%, 4.3. what floridians, for word to is a strong and growing economy. -- what floridians can look forward to is a strong and growing economy. we have a republican leadership

that said their number one goal was to obstruct obama, even when he is doing the right thing. we are going to hold on to the senate. that is clear. you can look forward to foreign policy and american policy and good steady job growth. host: jacob is and florida. a republican there. caller: good morning. i would like to know, what is the new law that president obama had passed and regards to, i think one of the people who can apply that are disabled -- what are the new laws that obama passed that now have to accommodate the disabled?

host: that is a very specific question. i am not sure he can answer that. caller: what new law has obama past cannot start restructuring the mortgages and allowing borrowers to apply for a mortgage. caller: is a good question path one of our important economic engines and florida, it is called retirees. florida is a great destination state for retirees. we have a great -- we have britta accommodations for the injured when the house and ball crashed, you have a lot of people building homes in

florida, people expecting retirees to,. went you had the ball hit, a lot of people were frozen in their homes. now you no longer can sell your home because of lost so much value. suddenly, we were bringing in a net of 1000 people a day. and we were growing steadily. when that stopped, and it stopped almost overnight, we have a large number of the people who were over leveraged in their homes. we had a record number of foreclosures. the day after the housing bubble crashed, developers, investors have built developments. my sister lives in one of those developments. suddenly it was frozen. the big issue for florida. we saw the banking reform. but said banks are starting to leverage their leverage. we were betting on derivatives of derivatives. when that crashed, everything came tumbling down. i think both democrats and

republicans came together to some degree to pass some restrictions to not allow the banking community to go so far overboard that we do not have this too big to fail thing. some of that has not been well done. there are still problems. some banks have gotten larger. it is an important issue to floridians. we are starting to see that turned around. the foreclosures are starting to drop pretty steadily. new home sales are starting to go up. we are starting to turn the corner. one of the earlier callers, mr. currey talked about how obama had two years to turn this around. i heard mitt romney saying when he would take over a company, it would sometimes take six months to a year to turn that around, this might be a company with thousands of employees. we are talking about a nation of people with connections all over the globe. you cannot just come in, wave a magic wand and turn this economy

around and won, 2, 3, five months. it takes years. it took us six months to get into this, it did not take a six months to get out. what the american people should look at, almost three years of nonstop, private sector job growth. unemployment headed in the right direction during hopefully the deficit will follow and start going down as well. host: about 10 minutes left. maryland, democratic caller, go ahead. caller: good morning. i wanted to speak about, for one thing, there's a little joke the republicans like to call people that supported the president. they consider him the messiah. and i do not think it is because we support him. it is because the congress has tried to crucify him so many times. and i do believe that the

filibuster rules did not help him and his first two terms and a matter what. -- no matter what. yesterday i heard a policeman and florida call in, and he was upset because he bought his home and it was worth 325,000 when he bought it and now it is only worth $150,000. and he is a county policeman. and he seemed to blame that on obama. i remember when everything was so bad, this president was crucified for stimulus. this man was probably one of the most directly -- of that stimulus to keep these teachers and policemen in their working positions so that they could pay

their rent, buy their food which kept other people. he caught so much grief. host: i will leave it there. since steven vancore is agreeing with you. hos let us go on to douglas. caller: she brought up something good about the filibuster. the representative from florida has said that they had a great job growth in florida. i am wondering if this accepted any stimulus money like wisconsin. also, mitt romney said that he would -- it would taken eight to 10 years to fix the economy. the president has only had four years and he has done more in that time than any other president. host: steven vancore? that is probably an

aggressive number for him. but your point is well taken. it takes a long time to turn this around. i would like to go back with harry upset about the filibuster. was created as a way -- the senate have this thing called closure. when things had gone bad, they shut down the process. prior to 1980, this was only used on average of once a year. and the last congress, the united states senate did this on average once a week. that is not an attack on republicans or democrats, but congress has become far more partisan than it ever has. the have moved to the far left and far right. that is in a large part from the american people are so dissatisfied with congress. here is the president, rock- solid, dead center let me give you one example. the affordable care act. this is not a democratic idea.

the affordable care act comes from the heritage foundation. it was first sponsored under the tutelage of newt gingrich. this is an idea that individuals need to be responsible for their own health care. and that is the cornerstone of where this comes from. sponsored by a conservative think tank. i heard mr. currey say that the takeover of health care, this is absolutely not true. is not a government take over. is asking people to take personal responsibility for their health-care insurance which all of us at some point in our lives will avail ourselves to the health-care system. it has been very difficult to work with congress. but the president has seen to muddle through and he will continue to do so. host: on twitter -- the

democrats have a majority for only 62 senate working days. caller: i am a seesaw independent. i was against obama. comment i was percen knockenot. the deficit is down $200 billion. why is that something that obama is not stressing? why is he not going back to the 47% host:: steven vancore? guest: i cannot speak to that. what offended me was not the 47% comment.

we are assuring that is a misstatement. what was problematic about the comment was that he then began to attack many americans. he called them takers and moochers. he said these people are not part of the american culture. my mom is part of that 47%. she was a garment worker for 47 years. these are disabled people. people who are retired military. people love given their care to america, many of them certainly on both sides of the equation, there are people who are takers, but it is not half of the american electorate. host: sarasota, fla., democratic caller. caller: thank you very much. we had a stimulus that came to florida. and governor was run out of the

republican party for taking that claim. and the governor we have now refused that money. it was like $1 billion, and a lot of jobs left the state because we did not get that money. and i just wonder, how can you say the governor now is good for jobs when all of those jobs went to other states? host: steven vancore? guest: the governor turned down a very badly needed rail system. it is in need of a high transportation rail. it was a stunning thing that he turned that down. i would try to show that there are some things that the governor is doing good. i have called him out repeatedly. i do not think he did the right thing on turning down a real money. that was going back into the

treasury. and it looks like it is going to be in the new jersey corridor. what the governor turned down a badly needed real system, he accepted money in pushing a rail system, which is not a heavily traveled areas of that same corridor. we needed it desperately from tampa to orlando. i am very sad he turned it down. there were tens of thousands of jobs. and a private company came in and said would guarantee the revenue on that. i think that someone will be governor regret making that decision. host: we only have a couple minutes. member to ask for short questions and answers. republican line, brian. caller: we sure that president obama needed more time. if you look back when reagan was elected. in 15 months, he dropped

unemployment from 10.7% to 7%. can you compare those and tell us why obama needs more time. guest: i can. ronald reagan raised the deficit 17 times, taxes 11 times. he did cut taxes, but you recognize the mistakes in increased taxes 11 times to make up for that. obama has not raised taxes on the american public. taxes are lower for middle-class families under obama. host: mike, a democrat collar. make it quick as well. caller: i appreciate your being such a good democrat. basically, i have had a hard life. my wife couldn't have a car. i have two special needs sons. people that have had a hard life, they do not understand the democratic point of view.

i know god exists. and i really appreciate you trying to make things better down here through your democrat comments. host: steven vancore on the tennecdemocratic view reverses e pocketbook. guest: i am not sure of the question. host: we are running out of time. what are you looking for on election night? guest: turnout is high in south florida, if then it is going to be a good night for the president. if turnout is low, like it was in the 2010 election, it is going to be a hard night for obama. right now it is razor thin. we look good